Tile decoration



N .0 I 0 u m D E L 1 T m 0 M o w Patented Feb. 16, 1886.

UNITED STATES P TENT OFFICE.

JOHN G. LOW, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS.

TILE DECORATION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 336,243, dated February 16, 1886. Application filed November 30, 1885. Serial N0.184,37-l. (N0 model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN G. Low, of Chelsea, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, a citizen of the United States, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Tile Decoration, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in explaining its nature. 7

Heretofore in the use of tiles for decoration, by insertion in articles of furniture, stoves, and the like, the tiles have either been embedded in the surface to be decorated or have been fastened upon it by frames that surround the tile and project slightly over the upper outer edges. This requires, if tiles of irregular shapes are used, that the recess shall be cut with the irregular shape, or that the frame shall be made of irregular shape, and considerable difficultyhas come in the arts from this. Again, in such amethod of decoration the tile is not generally modeled in relief, so as to project above the frame, but the frame becomes a substantial part of the decoration, and not a mere accessory.

I have invented an improvement upon this. Taking, for an example, a tile on which a medallion in relief is formed, I construct this tile with a rabbet all around its edge, so that there is a flange or rim at the bottom of the tile and a sort of hatcrown projection upward, on which modeling or decoration is made; and if I desire the projecting surface to have an irregular horizontal outline, I impart that irregular outline to the modeled part of the tile in the process of manufacture. In order to apply this tile to a surface to be decorated-say, for instance, to a stovethe plate to be decorated is made with holes in it, the outline of which corresponds to the outline of the crowned medallion on the tile to be applied, and, of course, in passing this tile through this perforation in the plate the contour of the perforation will fitinto the irregular contour ofthe crowned medallion. The tile then stops up the hole in the plate completely, and may be fastened in by any appropriate means-as, for instance, in a stove-plate, by means of sheet-iron spurs, which may be embedded in the iron in the process of casting, and, when the tile is inserted, folded over the lower side of the rim, or by means of a plate of iron, which can be fastened to the other plate, forming the frame of the tile. By

this formation of tile and method of adjustment, the framing of the tile becomes completely subordinate to the tile itself, whereas the only way to get this effect with tiles as hitherto made is to embed the tiles entirely in the metal and have no frames or bordering about them. Of course the rabbet into which the rim of the frame is set must be glazed as well as the crowned medallion surface of the tile.

The drawings illustrate, in Figure l in elevation and in Fig. 2 in section, this invention, in which A is the medallion surface. B is the rabbet; G, the perforated plate through which the tile is inserted, and E the plate which extends back of the tile, and is fastened to the front plate to hold the tile in position. This last plate, E, as has been described already, may be reduced to simple spurs or folding clamps to hold the tile in, and, similarly, the front plate may be reduced to a mere skeleton frame fastened to the back plate, and extending over the rim of the tile and into the rabbet. These are mere variations of detail. The substantial combination is a tile with a rabbeted rim, a perforated plate through which the crown of the tile passes, and a backing-plate of greater or less area fastened to the perforated plate; and either of the plates may be reduced in area, so as to have only one layer of material between the interior and the exterior ofthe decorated article, except at the rim of the tile, where there will always be-at some points at leastthree layers-one of tile, the other two of framing and backing. By this formation and adjustment a low relief on the upper surface of the medallion gives the effect to the eye of a much higher relief.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- As an improvement in the art of decorat; ing metallic or other surfaces, a medalliontile formed with a rabbet upon its edge, and glazed into the rabbet, in combination with a perforated plate suited to the contour of the projecting medallion, and with suitable backing to the tile attached to said perforated plate, substantially as and for the purposes described.

JOHN G. LOW. In presence of- F. F. RAYMOND, 2d, FRED. B. DOLAN. 

